Hoyo Maru
Oil tanker (8,691 t, 1936) bombed and strafed on 17 Feb 1944 after earlier torpedo damage; she capsized, with six crew killed, and lies upside down about 400 yards off Fefan Island. The bow is only about 3 m deep and coral-encrusted (visible from the air), the seabed is at roughly 38 m, and the ship's name can be read on the starboard bow. A bomb split amidships can be entered into the engine room, but silt and collapsed structure make it dangerous; oil leakage was photographed in 2006.
Facts
- Region: Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon – Micronesia
- Area: Dublon, Eten & Fefan channel
- Depth: 3–38 m
- Level: intermediate
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 7.345, 151.853 (approximate)
- Highlights: tanker, upside-down wreck, paravane, coral growth
- Permit: A Chuuk State dive permit is required for every dive on the wartime wrecks (Chuuk Lagoon State Monument): US$50, valid one year, as listed by Odyssey Adventures, SS Thorfinn and the Blue Lagoon Dive Shop rate sheet (the older state-code text says US$30, so confirm when booking). Under the state code the permit is sold by the licensed dive shops/operators, who collect the fee for the state, and divers must go with a certified guide from a licensed shop. All Japanese ships and aircraft sunk before 31 Dec 1945 are protected monuments and war graves: taking or damaging anything is illegal (fine up to US$1,000 and/or six months in prison under the state code).
- Issuer / contact: Chuuk Visitors Bureau (CVB)
- Phone: +691 330-4133
- Email: executivedirector@visitchuuk.com
- Website: https://visitchuuk.com/contact-information
- CVB is the Chuuk State tourism office and is listed here as the official contact for visitor information; the permit itself is sold by the licensed dive operators (Chuuk State code Title 25 ch. 8, text at https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/mic79052.pdf). Operators (Thorfinn, Odyssey, Blue Lagoon) list US$50.
- Unverified: No published GPS: pin placed on the channel side of Fefan Island ('400 yards off Fefan Island', Pacific Wrecks) without knowing which side. Depth range combines Pacific Wrecks (bow 8–12 ft) and Dive3D (seabed 38 m); Dive3D's 12–24 m wreck depth differs.
- Tips: Shallow bow is easy; entering the wreck is dangerous (silt, collapsed structure, leaking oil). Wrecks are war graves – look, photograph, take nothing. Some cargo (shells, mines, bombs) is unstable: do not touch it.